The Girl, The Guy, and The Scorch (SEQUEL TO THE GIRL, THE GUY, AND THE TESTS)

Chapter 1

IZZY

I was at peace for once. The Maze Trials were over. I could finally live the life with Newt that we deserved. WICKED was dead. As dead as chivalry. Yep, to me chivalry is dead.

I woke up earlier than everybody else so I chose to explore. There was a shelf with about five dusty books sitting on it, so I chose a random one and started reading. It was called Little Women, and it was a really old book. Like really old. From like the 1800's. It's that old.

"What are you doing?" I heard a familiar voice and looked up from the faded words on the yellowing pages of the old book.

Cam stood there yawning and stretching at the same time. Her brown hair was frizzy and tangled, but she made the messy hair look work. I couldn't believe that I'd gotten a second chance with my best friend. I'd gotten her back.

"Reading." I answered with a sigh. I turned my eyes back to the book and turned the page. It was really good considering the language of it. It was talking with words that nobody used for the last century. Old.

"No! Talk with me!" Cam whined rather loudly, "Reading is boring!"

My eyes flicked off the page as I shushed her. "People are sleeping!" I whisper-yelled at her.

"We're not in the library. You don't have to shush me like an old, wrinkly librarian." She rolled her eyes before sitting in front of me indian style.

I rolled my eyes before my eyes scanned over the words on the wrinkly, yellow pages. I was a really fast reader so I was already on page eighty-two. Then again, the pages were really small.

"Izzy," Cam whined and slapped my leg, "I'm bored."

"Then go get a book." I mumbled to her without taking my eyes off of the intriguing words.

"No!" She squealed.

I shushed her again, and she just crossed her arms over her chest like a kid and pouted.

I narrowed my eyes her. "Are you two years old?"

She nodded with her lip still jutted out into a pout. I groaned and dog-eared the page in the book before setting it down and glaring at Cam. "What is so important that you made me put my book down?"

She giggled and smiled. "I knew that I would get you away from that dumb book."

I glared at a her so intensely that she whimpered and scooted away a little. "Please don't kill me with your laser eyes."

I smirked. "Never call a book dumb again, you shank."

She nodded and scooted closer again. "I'm so happy that we're all together again."

I looked at the ground as my eyes watered. "Not all of us."

She looked down at her feet and whispered, "Yeah. I know."

It was depressing everybody could be so happy and smiling here when a lot of our friends just died. I felt as if I was betraying them by smiling. I could imagine poor Chuck saying, "How could you be smiling right now? I just died."

I bit my lip to keep myself from whimpering from the pain in my chest as I remembered the knife hitting Chuck when he jumped in front of Thomas. The shock on Gally's face when he realized what he'd just done. The tears that Thomas shed over his best friend. Chuck was underappreciated. Everyone thought he was just the annoying kid. We all needed him more than we thought. He was the one who could cheer us all up on those days that we got discouraged and depressed. He was a symbol of hope. Now that symbol was gone. How would we get through our awful lives without his shining light of happiness that bursts through the dark depression that saved us all.